ronbo83

I have noticed that the Friday and Sunday flights are packed out of DCA but mid week fights have been very empty lately. Just flew the 738 to AUS and had 70 on the way out and 66 on the way back. Just booked IND yesterday and noticed that my $80 rate changed to $250 today. Not sure if that is the typical price change for 14 days out but at that price, I would fly another airline. Perhaps their yield managment system is to blame for higher last minute fairs that are not competitive with the legacy carriers which tend to be cheaper close in?

dc2

I wish they flew DCA-MCO.

ohange

Was CMH-DCA ever a route?

alggag

Yes, but it doesn't start until April.

shellmisi

Terminal A sucks but the price was great!!!

My husband flew DCA-IND on Sunday with 40 people and the kids and I flew the same route on Monday with 31 (daughter counted). And yet I still get stuck with a middle seat.

ElmhurstNick

I don't think that IAD-MDW will survive.

It would seem to me that flights like DCA-IND really should be continuing on to points outside the perimeter, much like you'd see stuff like DAL-LBB-LAS back in the day. But the difference is that several cities outside the perimeter with a lot of O&D have non-stops - PHX, LAX, etc. And I'm not sure that there's enough O&D to fly OAK-IND, for example.

If WN wants to try and compete against US' 170s, that's going to be a hard road for AM departures to DC and thus no connecting traffic.

RIC Hokie

I flew MDW-DCA this past Tuesday evening. I only did a one-way because as ronbo83 pointed out, the Sunday flight must have been packed because it was more than twice the cost of the Tuesday flight back. (it was somewhere like $250 out but $120 return...and that was with plenty of advanced notice). Anyways, my flight had a total of 36 people on it. It was my first time doing Southwest with DCA and it was quite a hike to the metro in comparison to the other airlines flying out of DCA; so if you are ever flying out it is important to add the extra time for walking to the terminal. (on a side note, it was also my first time to MDW and I was surprised at how far the train dropped you off from the terminal as well...especially compared to ORD which seems closer)

rtalk25

Really? I feel the CTA end of line at MDW is a closer to a MDW gate, than CTA end of line at ORD to an ORD gate. Unless one is stuck using that funny A4A/A4B gate at MDW.

The problem with MDW might be the security line that gets overwhelmed especially around peak holiday times, but Southwest does participate in TSA PreCheck.

palmetto86

Tonight's last DCA-MDW flight has a grand total of 14 pax!

tassojunior

1. The Texas flights are all doing great.

2. The Florida flights (TPA) aren't. Too much competition.

3. I like little Terminal A and I like the Midway hub. Take a cab.

4. WN's dream would be the Frontier Denver non-stop but it's Doug Parker who will sell them routes.

5. Most people have no idea WN flies from DCA yet. It's many people's #1 pick.

Jan/Feb is dead season.

rtalk25

Those exemption routes cannot be sold. It is unfortunate that Southwest can't apply to convert an existing regular slot pair for DEN service. Or then that there is a perimeter rule at DCA still applicable anyways. But it's politics of course.

The perimeter rules are obsolete in my opinion. If DCA service to smaller communities is important, a new rule could just be a carrier must dedicate 10% of its slot pairs to small communities. Or whatever reasonable %. This way atleast Southwest (and other carriers) could easily launch longer routes while the goal of service to smaller communities from DCA is preserved.

But changes to DCA regulation that open up DCA more to western flights might not get full industry support. Probably UA wouldn't be for it, since that opens transcons more easily out of DCA, and impairs IAD's attractiveness and viability as a domestic hub.

alggag

Still, 3x DCA-DEN on F9 seems totally out of place now that they've gone full on ULCC and have basically lost any and all business travel they might have had.

rtalk25

Agreed. But Southwest would have to lobby Congress for changes to DCA regulation. I'm sure AA would be in support and maybe DL for more relaxing of DCA, i.e. more western flights.

Likely UA would be in objection but it seems UA might already figure that the future of IAD as a domestic hub isn't bright anyways. VX and carriers with larger transcon presence from IAD with limited DCA slot pairs might not be in favor of DCA perimeter rule relaxation.

In some ways, if opening the DCA hub to west means flights like DCA-GSO reduce in favor or DCA-SFO, then IAD might actually benefit with better viability or exclusivity of an IAD-GSO type flight feeding into the IAD hub as well as being the sole DC region flight. But, the smaller market wouldn't like losing DCA access to increased IAD access.

I find it odd that DCA-YYZ/YUL (foreign country) is permitted for all carriers, in favor of carriers being free to choose which western US destination flight to operate from DCA.

alggag

Flight loads are pretty lousy this time of year so I wouldn't put too much stake in them - this month I've taken four flights on various routes out of HOU that combined probably still wouldn't be enough to fill a -700.

rtalk25

60% seems low for TPA although the TPA season is generally the Winter months to Spring Break. Maybe this is a route that won't last given the seasonality and already plethora of competition (US/AA, B6, F9 at IAD).

WN is still pretty big in BWI-Florida, with low advance fares on BWI-TPA and BWI-FLL especially.

Given Southwest's control of DAL:

I wonder if Southwest might take the effort to increase DCA-DAL with 3 more departures to drive VX off the route? It could also add DCA-OKC and DCA-MEM and focus heavy on DCA-South Central US, with a dozen or so connecting flights to DAL along with the nonstops. I'd think DCA-ATL is safe as it serves that function as well as still providing some Florida connections.

Southwest might have plans to make FLL an international gateway, so I'd presume some DCA-FLL might be possible though.